Ok...so I can't read a measuring cup

Boy, that's a new one on me. I would suggest not bothering to vent. Instead, assuming your bottles are at room temp, they will start to show signs of carbonation after a week to 10 days, so wait a week, then open one bottle every day or two until the carbonation is at the desired level. It's letting the bottles condition beyond that that will cause problems. Therefore, once you've got the level of fizz where you want it, refrigerate the entire batch, even if you have to borrow fridge space from a friend. This will arrest, or greatly slow down the formation of any more CO2. The only flaw will be a slightly sweeter beer than would otherwise have been the case. Please post again in a few weeks and let us know how that worked for you.

John

I'd suggest opening another bottle RIGHT AWAY to see if it has gotten explosive yet. It sure won't take long for it to carbonate with all that extra sugar in there.... I know from personal experience. If it isn't fully carbonated yet, wait another day or two and try one again. My suggestion is that as soon as it reaches near-peak carbonation, invite as many people over as you possibly can, or give it all away and tell people to drink it IMMEDIATELY or it will explode!! It's the sad truth. Alternatively, you could try venting each cap slightly, but be sure to recap tightly so the caps don't pop off later!! I've never tried this but I assume it would work. You might need to vent a couple of times over the next couple of weeks. Good luck, hope it all works out for you.

I've still got some nearly-explosive Christmas Ale from 2003 sitting in my basement. Every once in a while I get the urge to try one, so I end up going outdoors with a pitcher, pop the top, pour all the foam into the pitcher, then wait 10-15 minutes for it to settle down prior to drinking. It works, but it sure ain't a pretty sight, and the beer ends up kind of flat because the carbonation is released all at once in the pitcher. Oh well, it's tasty stuff so I won't get rid of it.

It may be fine. Like one of the responders suggested, to be on the safe side refrigerate the lot if possible. If not store it in a bathtub with a blanket over it . . .

Usually just a few bottles break - the neck separates with the older Corona bottles I use - the new ones have much stronger glass. If they break they will break when warm and probably several weeks later - you may drink it before that happens.

I routinely use 1-1/2 to 2 cups of priming sugar. But one really has to mix it well into the wort and again during bottling to make sure it is well distributed in the batch. At the two cup level, variable carbonation is asking for trouble.

A useful trick in the carbonation department - bottle one or two in plastic soda bottles and you can squeeze the bottle to tell how the carbonation is coming. Plastic soda bottles are damn near indestructible - they can swell to twice their original volume before bursting and fall over long before that (the bottom gets very round).

On Wed, 6 Apr 2005 07:44:52 -0500, "David M. Taylor" said in alt.beer.home-brewing:

Ease the cap off, so that you have only a pinhole for the CO2 to escape. When it stops you should have beer that's only slightly less carbonated than you want.

And you have the perfect reason to start getting into kegging. :)